- Natural Disasters
The majority of global natural disasters occur in the Asia Pacific region including weather related and geologic disasters. Year-to-year climate variability (e.g., El Niņo and monsoons) and extreme events (e.g., droughts and storms) already pose significant challenges for key economic sectors in the region including agriculture and tourism, public health and safety, and critical water resources and will continue to do so in the future. Scientists predict that future impacts of climate change will also be particularly acute in Asia Pacific countries especially those with vulnerable coasts, and whose future economic plans depend on climate-sensitive resources (e.g., beaches, coral reefs, fisheries) or activities (e.g., tourism, agriculture). Millions of people are at risk from geologic disasters in this geologically unstable part of the world. We seek to develop a framework for multi-hazards risk management that will contribute to the development of sustainable communities in the Asia-Pacific region.
